Georgia Man Second To Plead Guilty In Bank Fraud And Identity Theft Scheme

Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and William G. Frantzen, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States Magistrate Judge David J. Novak.

Nelson was indicted on November 5, 2013, by a federal grand jury on conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges. Nelson faces a maximum penalty of thirty years’ imprisonment for the bank fraud conspiracy offense and a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years’ imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft offense when he is sentenced on May 1, 2014, by Senior United States District Judge Robert E. Payne.

In a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Nelson admitted to participating in a conspiracy involving the unauthorized withdrawal of hundreds of thousands of dollars from accounts held at Wells Fargo Bank. Members of the conspiracy created false forms of identification for several real Wells Fargo accountholders, using personal identifying information obtained without lawful authority. Nelson and his co-conspirators traveled from Georgia and other locations to bank branches in Virginia and South Carolina, where they posed as the individual accountholders. Using customer account information and the false forms of identification, Nelson and his co-conspirators withdrew over $260,000 from numerous Wells Fargo accounts between November 2012 and January 2013. The co-conspirators divided the stolen proceeds among themselves following the withdrawals.

Nelson’s co-conspirator, Anthony Romey Carter, of Elk Grove, California, previously pled guilty and was sentenced on August 8, 2013, to 61 months’ imprisonment for his role in the scheme.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Dominick S. Gerace and Michael Gill are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.